HART Takes You There Video

Target Audience: Hillsborough County residents and voters, HART customers, stakeholders

Strategy Objective:The strategy behind the video was multifaceted. The main objective was to highlight the role that public transportation plays in the community - through the highs and lows, HART Takes You There. Fresh off a pandemic that saw HART still carrying a core ridership of essential workers, we wanted to highlight how valuable public transportation is not just to those that rely on it, but to the community in general. You might not ride the bus, but your nurse or barber does. This helps speak to voters. We also wanted to throw in a ridership development angle and fight the myth that only "poor people" take the bus by showing a variety of individuals of all means, races, etc. on the bus. Hillsborough County is a large and very car-dependent county and most have never stepped foot on a bus.

Situation Challenge: Shortly after Hillsborough County voters approved a 1-cent transportation sales tax in 2018, it was challenged and ultimately overturned due to ballot language. Fast forward to 2022 and the tax was once again in front of voters. HART wanted to highlight the role of public transportation locally ahead of the election. The challenge with this entry was that as a possible recipient of the tax, HART could educate the public but not advocate for the tax. HART also viewed this video as a ridership development piece. However, there is a perception about who rides transit locally. This exists throughout the country, but especially in a car-centric community like Hillsborough County.

Results Impact: While the tax narrowly went down in defeat (possibly due to the economic climate, confusion over the previous tax, etc.), we believe the HART Takes You There video was a great asset for brand awareness and changing the perception of public transportation locally. The video was shown at dozens of community and stakeholder meetings throughout the County and aired almost 400 times on the local CW TV affiliate with a reach of almost 800,000 impressions. The video also received a reach of almost 12,000 on HART's social media channels.

Why Submit: The HART Takes You There video was submitted for an AdWheel because we believe this message can be used in communities across the country and we think this video did an incredible job moving the perception needle within our community.